How Likely Is Amway Success?

 Many people consider the platinum level in Amway as a significant achievement in Amway. While it may be nice to achieve that level and gain recognition from the Amway corporation, I will point out that there was a study done in Wisconsin where the attorney general analyzed and found that platinums on average, lost money. The study is somewhat dated, but I will also point out that today, there are MORE expenses associated with running an Amway business than before. (Voicemail, books, functions, standing orders, shipping). I would guess that it's possible that platinums lose more today than when the Wisconsin study was done.

A typical platinum group often has 100 or more downline IBOs. Thus, a logical conclusion is that less than 1% of IBOs can reach that level. It is also, apparently rare to maintain that level. My former upline diamond had 7 frontline platinums in his heyday. Actually, 6 of them were ruby level. None of them hold the platinum level today. So you have a less than 1% chance of reaching platinum and then you are unlikely to be able to maintain that level.

What serious prospective business owner would even consider opening a business where you have such a tiny chance of success? Even those who achieve platinum are likely to lose that level. If platinums cannot maintain their level, then it's easy to see why there are former diamonds as well. It seems that people are willing to take a chance on an Amway business because the start-up cost is low. But what is the point of doing all of that when the chance of making money is negligible?

To compound the problem, many IBOs spend a lot of time and money building an Amway business that is unlikely to give them any return on their investment. I'd guess that the average serious IBO would spend $250 a month of more on tools. That money invested over a number of years in mutual funds would give you a much better chance of achieving some dreams. Even putting the money in the bank would make you better off than the vast majority of IBOs. A serious business owner would want to know their realistic chance of making money. For some strange reason, prospects and IBOs seem to ignore this reality.

It is because uplines are in the business of selling tools and distributorships. They are not truly interested in your long-term sustainable success. If you don't believe me, try to stop purchasing standing orders and function tickets and see how much longer you are edified and given help from upline. Seriously, would a real business owner be interested in a less than 1% chance of success?

A Straight Answer Please?

 One of the humorous things about Amway IBOs is their ability to say a whole lot without having any substance. They'll talk about how great the business is and how much they have learned and then when you ask if they made any money, you either get dead silence or you get some answer about how they's seen a copy of a check from someone's upline diamond or something like that. But it's very rare that an IBO will be upfront about their earnings. Of course I can understand that someone brand new might not have made a whole lot, but I have seen some IBOs outright lie and say they've been in Amway a month and they're making $5000 a month or some other tall tale like that.  The IBOs say a lot without saying anything, if that's possible.

Even when discussing some Amway released information such as the average earnings of an IBO, you can hear all kinds of excuses provided by Amway defenders. They will make excuses like most IBOs do nothing. As if that isn't a problem in itself. Or they make stupid analogies about people signing up for a gym membership and then not doing anything. As if owning a business and exercising are the same thing. I even hear questionable claims about how so many people sign up as IBOs to get lower prices. I chuckle when I hear that because Amway's prices in general, are not competitive with big retailers. I believe that is because Amway must add the cost of IBO bonuses into the cost of their goods and services. While an IBO might save from the full retail price of Amway products, you can (in most cases) find the same or a similar product cheaper online or at Walmart.

Another area where IBOs like to divert the discussion is when the discussion is about the success rate of IBOs in general. Based on Amway's own numbers, less than one half of one percent of IBOs reach the level of platinum. Platinum is the level where allegedly, an IBO either breaks even or starts to make some net profit. It would depend on whether the IBO is involved in the tools and to what level of participation. But IBOs like to downplay this fact as if people simply did not work hard enough or did not learn enough, rather than simply acknowledging that the system itself might be flawed. 

The last area I see issues is when talking about selling products. I suspect that product sales to non-IBOs is relatively small. I believe there may be some exceptional people who can sell, but people in general, do not like to or do not possess the skills to sell products. Yet I see IBOs making all kinds of stories about "selling" to customers. I rarely get a straight answer about product sales as well. The fact that many Amway IBOs can't give a straight answer is quite telling.

Quitting?

 One of the things that keeps some IBOs going is the "alternative reality". What I mean by that is for some IBOs, once you have been in Amway for a while, it can be hard to quit. You may have been recruited with dreams of lifelong residual income and walking on all of the exotic beaches of the world. Retiring young and spending that time with your wife and family. To quit means an IBO would have to face the reality that these dreams will not come true, at least not with the Amway business. The fact is that the Amway opportunity probably would not have delivered those dreams anyway. Even a diamond more than likely cannot afford those dreams. In fact I would estimate that most diamonds, if they flaunt some excessive lifestyle, are near broke or in heavy debt as a diamond income cannot sustain a jet set lifestyle, save for a founder's crown ambassador or something similar. I believe the prominent WWDB triple diamond bankruptcy shed a lot of light into the finances of an upper-level pin and it wasn't nearly as impressive as I would have thought.

But what is the reality? It's working hard only to drift between 100 and 500 PV. It's finally sponsoring a new IBO only to have a downline quit. It's talking to people about Amway and getting laughed at or getting rejected. It's your upline or sponsor pushing you to do more. Possibly your upline is one who questions your manhood if you aren't working hard enough. It's your upline or sponsor reminding you that a winner doesn't miss functions, especially the major ones. It's staying up late for team meetings or nite owls when you need a good nite's rest to do your job the next day. It's driving the miles to show a plan, only to have your prospect not show up. It's having to be deceptive about what you are doing. It's skipping functions with family and friends so you can be core to the business.

As IBOs, do you see any of this? I saw much of this during my involvement. While I have not been an IBO in some years now, I still see many testimonies and comments by more current and even some active IBOs to indicate that a lot of this still goes on. While Amway defenders will deny it, I see no reason why any of this would have changed over the years since Amway has made no significant changes to stop abusive uplines. If Amway did make any changes, they are not immediately apparent, and the continuous string of comments and testimonies do not confirm that any clean-up has been done. I recently sent some information to Amway about some unethical behavior by an IBO. Not only did they not publish my concern on their now defunct "Answers" blog, they also did not respond and apparently did nothing to the unethical IBO. So much for not turning a blind eye.

For active IBOs or prospects, these are the realities that may be attached with the Amway opportunity. Much of it is because of motivational groups such as WWDB or BWW, but if you are seeing these traits in your group, ask the tough questions. If you happen to decide that the Amway opportunity is not for you, take heart! There are other ways to achieve your financial goals and dreams and there are moe efficent ways out there. Sometimes, quitting something that isn't working is a wise business decision and sometimes you can lose more by not quitting. Good luck in whatever you decide.

The University Of Amway?

 One of the really dumb things that some Amway defenders do is to compare the upline teaching of WWDB or Network 21 (for example) to a real and legitimate college education. Some people even go as far as to encourage young people to skip or drop out of college so they can focus on Amway. That makes me really upset to know that these upline leaders so darn greedy for a dollar that they would encourage a motivated young student to basically risk their future to build a business where you have a fraction of 1% of making any real money and possibly less than that percentage of keeping and maintaining it.

There is plenty of documentation available to show that college grads earn more than non-college grads. I believe the difference on average was about $1000 a month more in favor of college graduates. While not all college students graduate, the rate is about 50%. College grads also earn about an average of $50,000 or  more as a starting salary.  Likely more no as the cost of living and wages has risen. According to Amway, the average IBO earns $202 a month or less than $2500 a year.  (And that average earning include people who did nothing and quit.  The true average is far less than that) The Amway earnings are gross, thus IBOs on the system (functions, standing orders) are probably ending up with a net loss. Try feeding your family with zero dollar or a net loss.

While there may be some value in some of the material provided from upline to downline, it doesn't seem to translate into net profits. Thus, an intangible benefits an IBO might receive from his/her Amway education can likely be found elsewhere, without having to run a losing business. Imagine a scenario where two people apply for a job. One candidate has on their resume, a degree from the University of Washington. The other one says they have four years of education from Worldwide Dream Builders. Which candidate is more likely to get a serious look? Do IBOs believe that the stuff they learn at functions is substantial enough to compete with a real and accredited college? If so, then they are likely to get laughed out of the room if the need to compete for a job.

Or how about using the 6-4-2 plan to get a business loan from a bank? What do IBOs learn that can be applied to something outside of the rose-colored world of Amway? I find that uplines who get young people to funnel their education dollars towards WWDB or some other system instead of finishing college is a crime. I hope that information seekers find this information before they get persuaded into believing some of the lies told by some upline leaders. I find it ironic though, that many of these same leaders send their kids to college. Hypocrites?

Is Your Business Sustainable?

 One of the selling points of the Amway business is for people to do the work once and then sit back and reap financial benefits for life. But that simply does not happen for the vast majority of IBOs. The reason why most Amway IBOs do not have a sustainable business is because their business is not based on sales to genuine customers with a genuine need. Most IBOs themselves will not buy Amway products once their affiliation to Amway is over. Amway products are generally priced higher than competitors because the Amway "bonus" is built into the price. Ultimately, IBOs wind up self-consuming the majority of their own products and hoping to recruit others to do the same.

If you are an IBO doing your 100 PV monthly, then your only way to increase volume is to sponsor downline in hopes that they will also do their 100 PV as shown in the plan. And even if you are somehow able to accomplish this and sponsor a bunch of people as shown in the plan, chances are that many IBOs will "do nothing" and of the remaining, some will move 100 PV, but they will likely quit in one year or less. Because the vast majority of Amway IBOs make nothing or lose money, often because of the tools system, there is no motivation for most to continue in the business because there is no stream of income, but a stream of expenses that never ends.

In many or possible most cases, IBOs are only selling the Amway opportunity and not Amway products. They sell the possibility or hope that they will build a business, walk away and collect residual untold wealth for the rest of their lives. It isn't going to happen. Say for example, you sold 100 PV monthly on a consistent basis to customers. These customers will automatically go online and make purchases when they run out of their products. If you are lucky, they will also refer friends to make purchases. But most IBOs do not sell products, they are selling the opportunity. And upline uses your hopes and dreams to sell you tools. That's the real business of the diamonds.

That brings up the next point about why an Amway business is not sustainable for most. The products cost more than most other retailers. That will limit the potential for customers and referrals. Amway defenders like to cite quality issues, but most customers who shop online aren't familiar with Amway products and have no way to know whether Amway has quality products or not. That leaves them to decide based on prices. And Amway in general, costs much more than Walmart for the same or similar products. A tough sell indeed. And for those reasons, the Amway business is not sustainable, in my opinion.   And I've seen nothing that supports an opposing viewpoint.

Dreams?

 One of the things that Amway leaders use to attract new IBOs is to talk about the dreams that these folks have. They may talk about how having a job will wear you out and dreams that you once had as a child or young adult gets suppressed and/or completely forgotten. They try to revive some of these dreams in the hopes that they can convince prospects that Amway is the only way, or the easiest or best way to accomplish these dreams. They also try to instill the notion that people can choose to succeed in Amway. Being that success in Amway has so many variables out of the direct control of an IBO, nobody can simply choose to make it big in Amway anymore than they can choose to win the lottery. And by the way, the chances of going diamond and maintaining it is about as remote as winning a lottery.

What is somewhat cruel is reviving dreams that for many, will never come to fruition, no matter how much work is done, and no matter how many tools are consumed. There are many instances where no matter how big the dream, it will never come to pass because of physical and financial limitations. For example, as a child, many of us had dreams of playing professional football, hockey or basketball, and living in the glory of winning. However, no matter how many hours you put in and no matter how hard you work, the vast majority of people will never be pro athletes. And even out of the ones who become pro athletes, very few are considered "elite".

Yet the Amway promoters will have people believe that just buying a few products and selling a few products and 2-5 years of "hard" work, people will join the financially elite in the world. As if home care, beauty and nutritional products moved from person to person is going to make you achieve your dreams. That you will quit your jobs and walk the beaches of the world while the cash rolls in by the barrel full. Sadly, many young people become attracted to a proposition that allows them a shortcut to retirement instead of working until age 62 or whatever the standard retirement age is. They are basically promoting false hopes and promises to the vast majority of people who get involved. I believe those who are deemed as "dream stealers" might be doing their family and friends a favor by stealing their dream, which will not come to pass anyway.

With about 1 out of 240 IBOs reaching platinum (the alleged break even point) and about 1 in 20,000 IBOs reaching diamond, the dream is a stretch indeed. Even for the select few who can overcome major challenges and hurdles, maintaining their status often becomes impossible and not worthwhile (many diamonds have quit).   Also, if you do make it, you will leave behind a trail of people who could not or did not come close to that level of success. It means that in many cases, your success will come at the expense of those you sponsor. It is why many claim that Amway is a legal pyramid.

Having dreams and goals is a good thing. But do you want to accomplish your ultimate dream by hurting (financially) those who trusted you and agreed to be your downline? Is it your dream to go diamond and have 500 to 1000 or more downline IBOs losing money? Is it your dream to be wealthy by exploiting people who trust you and believe that they can achieve the same level of success, when the opposite is true?

What is your dream? Are you willing to hurt others to achieve it?

How To Make Your Upline Squirm And Be A Weasel?

 Here's something that Amway IBOs can use when they see upline leaders making big claims and guarantees of sorts about the vaunted system of cds/audios, books, voicemail and functions.  Ask them to put it in writing and to ask what they are guaranteeing? It's easy to stand on stage and say the business is simple or a piece of cake. That buying tools and attending functions nearly assures success. Ask your sponsor or upline what exactly you will receive if you do what they advise, and the results are not there?

Uplines will always use an out - that you did not do everything exactly and precisely as they advised, therefore any failure is your own fault. I find it humorous because these leaders are quick to take credit if they see any downline success. It's like playing a game of heads I win, tails you lose. The upline always has a built-in excuse. This wouldn't be so evil if they uplines weren't making their fortunes out of the sale of tools and functions.  The faithful downline are just cattle heading to slaughter, at least financially, because of the (IMO), unnecessary business expenses associated with the tools and functions. 

In fact, speaking of writing, have you ever seen a formal tools contract indicating how you qualify for and the compensation that will be received when you qualify? Why do platinums, as far as I know, get only a cut of the standing orders and not anything else? Why are some of these issues such dark secrets? It's like the legend of Sasquatch. Many have heard about it, some have claimed to have seen it, but there's no bonafide evidence of its existence.   And that's how diamonds operate, with a lot of cloak and dagger methods shrouded in secrecy.  Ask an upline about their Amway income and you'll likely be told it's none of your business.  But if you're "investing" your hard-earned money following upline advise, you should demand answers and accountability.

Amway supporters and defenders often decry my blog because it may deter people from joining Amway when prospects know the truth about Amway. But at the same time, who's held accountable to people who were deceived or lied to about Amway and joined only to lose money, regardless of the amount of effort they expended? As an example, my former sponsor spent over 20 years in the business hard core. I wonder what kinds of losses he suffered as a result of his hard work and sacrifices? He was involved before I was an IBO and back then, WWDB leaders completely lied and denied that there were any tool profits at all.

Upline making incredible claims? Ask for their guarantees and assurances in writing, but you won't get any.